


Don't Be Afraid

by morebeesthanyoucouldimagine



Series: Don't Be Afraid [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, titan!levi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-24
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2018-02-18 14:24:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2351594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morebeesthanyoucouldimagine/pseuds/morebeesthanyoucouldimagine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His ebony hair was nearly unrecognizable due to it being matted and caked with blood. Everything about his face appeared to be frozen in fear, except for his mouth. It was twisted in a cruel, animalistic grin. His lips were smeared with blood, and flesh was stuck in between his teeth. Whatever this monster was, it wasn’t the Corporal anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Capturing the female titan should have brought back a sliver of hope, but the discovery that there were others like Eren came as a startling nightmare. It begged to ask other questions. How many more of them were there? Where did they come from? If there can be human-like titans, are there titan-like humans? Theories and rumors spread like a disease. Some people had even started accusing their peers of being shifters. Fear was everywhere. The funny thing about fear though, is that it can both paralyze and empower. More often than not, it empowers those who hold it over others, but there is the odd exception when fear can spark courage.

To say that Eren was scared at the revelation that Annie was a titan shifter, would be an understatement. Eren was terrified, he had trusted her. He thought of her as a good friend. But now, he didn’t know what to believe.

_She was a titan. She was the enemy._

_All titans are enemies, and must be destroyed._

* * *

 

Somehow, Commander Erwin Smith was able to keep the Survey Corps’ jurisdiction over Eren, and he would continue to train his titan power at the old Survey Corps Headquarters. Knowing this had comforted Levi’s squad and Hanji. They had all grown to care about him, especially Levi, even if he wouldn’t admit it. After the close call in the forest of “big-ass trees”, Levi’s squad finally trusted Eren.

After all, who wouldn’t trust someone who had saved them from a brutal death? Their meals together became much more relaxed, and conversations were common and friendly.

The squad members were eating their dinner of stew and bread. The stew was made mostly of vegetables and a few scraps of meat, and the bread was a little stale, but all in all, Eren thought it was comfortable. Auruo was complaining about something to Petra, Hanji was terrorizing Moblit, and Erd and Gunther were talking quietly amongst themselves. Everything seemed to be normal.

Eren looked over at Corporal Levi, and was surprised by what he saw. Usually the Corporal ate the regular portions of food (which would be a bowl of stew and two pieces of bread). This time however, there were three empty bowls before him, and he had three slices of bread in his left hand. Even Sasha didn’t eat that much.

Eren observed the others and saw that the rest of them only had one bowl and two slices of bread (unless they had already eaten them). Eren stared down at his own half-eaten stew and wondered, why the Levi was eating so much today. He knew it was none of his business, but he couldn’t help being concerned.

He was well aware of what stress-eating was, and Eren knew that he would be downright stupid to think that Levi didn’t have anything to stress about. He decided he would ask him about it if he had a chance to talk to him alone. Hopefully, Eren could find a way to help and comfort the Corporal if he could. Worst case scenario, Levi would kick his ass, but at least he would know that Eren cared about him. Right?

* * *

 

 

As usual, the Corporal accompanied Eren down to the dungeon later that night. Eren decided to take this opportunity to see if Levi was alright. If Eren were to be honest, he would say that the Corporal looked a little on edge, but maybe that was just his imagination and he was making something out of nothing. As they reached the bottom of the stairs to the dim dungeon, Eren took a deep breath of air before facing his superior.

“Sir! I kinda noticed you ate a lot of food and bread earlier during dinner, I mean you had three bowls! Are you-“

“I was just hungrier than usual.” Levi cut off Eren’s rambling with his usual monotone voice. Eren looked at the Corporal, still a bit uncertain, but Levi had continued walking and led Eren to his cell.

As he turned to leave, Eren called after him. “Are you sure you’re fine, Corporal?” Worry filled his voice.

“Goodnight, Yeager.” Levi ignored his question and kept walking, not bothering to turn around. Eren didn’t sleep well that night.

* * *

 

The next morning, the squad was eating a light breakfast of fruit and the bread leftover from last night. No one except for Eren seemed to notice that Levi was eating at least three times as much as the others. Squad Leader Hanji bounced into the room, followed by ~~their caretaker~~ Moblit.

“Good Morning!” They said brightly, their grin was impossibly wide.

“Shut the fuck up.” The Corporal growled, not even caring to look in their direction.

“My, my, someone’s especially grouchy today.” Hanji chirped.

“I am just fucking tired.” He spat bitterly looking up from his meal and narrowing his eyes. Even Hanji was taken aback, and someone in Levi’s squad mumbled a _“Geez, Corporal”_ , but it was hard to distinguish who it was. Never the less, the Corporal shot an icy glare in their general direction. The rest of breakfast felt tense and strangled. Something was definitely wrong with the Corporal and Eren was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

 

Training that day was absolutely brutal. The Corporal demanded inhuman perfection. Later at dinner, the most of the squad was thankful that Levi wasn’t there, but Eren was nervous. All of this wasn’t sitting well with him. Eren wouldn’t lie and say he knew everything about his superior, but he knew this was out of his character. The rest of Levi’s squad was speaking in hushed whispers. It was hard to hear what they were saying, but it was along the lines of _“Who put a stick up his ass today?”_ Eren let out a sigh and looked at his dinner. He wasn’t really hungry. He never was when he was worried.

He decided to leave dinner early.

On his walk back to the dungeon, he heard a strange gagging-like noise. It sounded like someone was throwing up. Eren stopped walking to try and hear it better. It sounded pretty bad. 

“I should probably go make sure they’re okay.” Eren thought aloud.

As he walked towards the putrid sound, it started to die down. He stopped in front of the men’s washroom, and carefully opened the door. He could hear heavy breathing as he walked in, and he cautiously walked towards the stalls. Eren was startled as the person walked out of the stall coughing, and was even more startled when he saw that it was Corporal Levi.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, he was frustrated with Levi. Eren knew that this wasn’t his place and he knew his feelings for the older man were far from professional, but he would be damned if he didn’t find out what was going on with the Corporal.

 

Eren and the Corporal just stood there staring at each other, both of them trying to understand the situation. Levi was the first one to snap out of it, and he started walking quickly, practically sprinting, towards the door. When Eren finally grasped the situation, he hurried to follow his superior.

“Corporal!” Eren called after him, confused as to why Levi was trying to flee.

“Fuck off, Yeager!” Levi said continuing down the hallway, heading towards his room.

“But Corporal-!” Eren stopped trying when he heard the Levi’s door slam shut. At this point some people would probably say _“Oh well, I tried”_ , but Eren wasn’t going to give up that easily. Honestly, he was frustrated with Levi. Eren knew that this wasn’t his place and he knew his feelings for the older man were far from professional, but he would be damned if he didn’t find out what was going on with the Corporal. Eren took a deep breath, straightened his posture and marched right over to his superior’s office and knocked loudly on the door.

“Corporal-“

“Get lost, Yeager.” Levi snarled quietly, so quietly it was almost impossible to hear.

“No.” Eren replied with a shakily. This was one of the first times he directly disobeyed the Corporal. “I am not leaving until I help you.” His quivering tone had been replaced by an adamant one.

“Do you really think you can?” Levi softly whispered through the door. The sudden gentleness of his voice startled Eren.

“I won’t know if I don’t try.” He answered. Eren closed his eyes silently prayed that he had finally convinced the Corporal to open up, both the door and himself. Eren let out a small sigh of relief when he heard the door starting to unlock. He opened his eyes and saw the Corporal standing in the doorway.

Levi’s professional façade was gone, replaced by a drastically different appearance. His hair was tousled and his breathing was uneven. His shirt had stains (which were probably from his vomiting a few moments ago) and his eyes were red and wet from crying. His overall appearance was disheveled and significantly unlike his normal look.

“Yeager.” He growled “If you tell anyone about this, I swear-“

“Understood, sir.” Eren said, nodding his head for good measure. The Corporal stepped aside and motioned for Eren to enter the room. Once Eren had crossed the threshold, Levi closed and locked the door. If it had been anyone other than Levi, Eren would have been made slightly nervous by that, but he trusted him.

The older man walked over the window in the room and gazed at the out of it, contemplating his words.

“How much do you already know?” He asked choosing not to look at his subordinate in favor of looking at the trees outside.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand your question, sir.” Eren replied. He felt like he was standing there awkwardly, so he decided to sit in one of the wooden chairs near the Corporal’s desk. Levi turned around and looked at him, but not meeting his eyes.

“Unless you are actually more fucking dense than I thought you were, you probably understand that I was puking in the toilet.” He retorted, walk over to his desk. After a moment of thought, he sat down in the chair across from Eren.“I want to know what else you’ve noticed.”

“To be honest, I think everyone has noticed you’ve been on edge lately, but I seem to be the only one who has noticed that you’ve been eating a lot recently.” Eren stated. “So you’ve been eating a lot, and then throwing up afterwards?” He thought for a moment before realizing something. “Kinda like a titan.” He thought out loud. He looked up at his superior and realized that was the wrong thing to say.

“I just can’t seem to keep my food down, Yeager that is all.” The Corporal snapped. He stood up and tried to usher Eren out of the room.

“That’s not all, is it?” Eren stated more than questioned.“Sir, I am worried about you, and I want to help-” he stood up and paused for a moment. “No, I am _going_ to help you.” Levi was quiet for a moment and then sighed. He motioned for Eren to follow him. He led him into his bedroom, which was connected to his office.

Eren hadn’t been in the Corporal’s bedroom, so he had no idea what it was like. Seeing as he was “Humanity’s Strongest” he thought he might have a luxurious sleeping area, but he wasn’t surprised when it was very Spartan.

The Corporal took a deep breath and turned to face Eren.

“I don’t have any nipples.” He said in a monotone voice.

“Umm…” was the only verbal response Eren made. He was totally lost. Was the Corporal messing with him? He could possibly see Auruo or Erd trying to pull a prank like this, but not Levi. While Eren was trying to understand, the Corporal turned away from him started to take off his shirt.

Now, if Eren had not seen Levi’s chiseled chest before, he would probably be very “excited” right now.

After he had removed the piece of clothing, Levi turned around to show Eren his chest. He wasn’t lying. There were no nipples in sight. Instead, his chest was barren. He wasn’t fucking joking.

“ _Kinda like a titan_.” Eren’s earlier statement was ringing through his own thoughts.

The Corporal let out a stuttered breath.

“I think I’m turning into one of those fucking _things_.” He cried. He opened his mouth to say more, but no words came out. It wasn’t until he crumpled to the floor that he was able to continue.

“I can’t digest food and I’m losing some of my body parts and… and” His speech deteriorated into incoherent noises of distress.

Eren had always had a “motherly” trait. Seeing Levi, a man who never showed much feeling, in such an emotional state invoked that attribute in him. So, without a moment of doubt, he embraced his superior, wrapping his arms around his trembling form. He whispered nothing but comforting words to him.

The Corporal had started to calm down, but he was still shaking. Eren tried to fix that by slowly rubbing circles on his back. It wasn’t long before the Corporal’s breathing slowed down and he fell asleep. With some difficulty, Eren was able to carry his unconscious superior over to his bed and lay him down on it. Eren made sure his Corporal was sleeping before placing a small, chaste, loving kiss to his forehead.

He walked back into the other room, closing the door behind him. Using a pen from Levi’s desk, he wrote a note for the Corporal on a scrap of paper.

_“Don’t Be Afraid.”_

Eren looked back at the door to Levi’s bedroom and sighed. He was glad he was finally able to help him to some extent. He walked over to the door that lead to the hallway. Unlocking it, he walked out. He made his way back to the dungeon stairs. As he descended down them, he was trying to think of what could be plaguing his Corporal.

“ _Maybe he has a disease that’s making him loose his nipples, and he’s worrying so much that he can’t eat properly. Surely he isn’t becoming a titan! That’s not possible._ ” Eren couldn’t shake the feeling of dread he had in the pit of his stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Soap here.  
> I never expected this to be as successful as it is, and I just want to thank you all.  
> The next chapter should be up on Sunday!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As he was nearing the Corporal’s room, he could definitely hear muffled crying. It hurt Eren to hear Levi in such a state. He felt so frustrated that he didn’t know how to help him, but he’d be damned if he didn’t try.

 

Light from the sunrise was trickling through the window and dancing on the sleeping Corporal’s eyes, as if urging him to wake up. He slowly gained consciousness, but he kept his eyes closed, preferring to indulge himself in the warm comfort that was his bed. Eventually he gave up the silly hope that he could keep laying there. He slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes.

Despite having one of the longest nights of sleep in a long time, he felt like shit.

He noticed that he was laying on top of the covers instead of under them, and that he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday. In the back of his mind, this was raising red flags, but his barely conscious-self paid no attention to it. Levi took off his clothes in favor of putting on clean ones.

“Fucking morning breath.” The short man mumbled after he yawned. He stretched his weary limbs, letting out a noise that could possibly be mistaken for a sexual one.

He sauntered out of his bedroom and into the conjoined room that was serving as his office.

As he passed his desk he noticed something was out of place. There was a note on the desk. He instantly recognized Eren’s handwriting and remembered everything that had happened last night.

_Fuck._

* * *

 

 

Eren was concerned, the Corporal had failed to show up to breakfast. His worry prevented him from eating the food in front of him. As usual, no one else in the squad noticed, or perhaps they just simply did not care. Maybe they were glad that Levi wasn’t there. They were probably relieved after how he was acting yesterday.

Since the Corporal was not present at the time, Squad Leader Hanji was leading training that day. Contrary to what you might expect, training with Hanji was relatively normal in comparison to how they ran with other tasks. Training was exceptionally laidback in comparison to yesterday’s training with the Corporal.

Despite sleeping well last night, Eren was tired. Dark bags hung under his emerald eyes, his movements were sluggish, and his reactions were notably delayed. Apparently Petra noticed this and mentioned it to Hanji.

“Hey, Eren! You feeling okay?” The Squad Leader asked him. Their usually excitable voice was laced with concern.

“I’m just a little tired, that’s all.” He tried to convince them with a small smile.

“Maybe you should go in and take the rest of the day off?” Hanji suggested, patting Eren softly on his back.

“Say, Squad Leader, Where’s the Corporal?” He tried to ask innocently.

“He must have slept in.” Hanji shrugged.

“Wouldn’t someone have tried to wake him up?” Eren questioned.

“Well you see, Levi’s a heavy sleeper, and we probably wouldn’t have been able to wake him up anyways!” Hanji explained, ushering Eren back to the castle. Eren wasn’t convinced, but he gave up. He started to walk back to the old Survey Corps Headquarters, but Hanji stopped him first.

“You know we care about you and you can always talk to us, right?” They reminded Eren. Eren responded by nodding his head. He turned around and continued on the short hike to the castle.

On his way back, he couldn’t help but think about what the Squad Leader said. He knew that he shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but he couldn’t help but be frustrated. Did Hanji and the rest of the squad really care about him and not Levi? It sure seemed like it. Did they think that just because he was “ _Humanity’s Strongest_ ” that he was invincible and didn’t have problems of his own? Eren knew he needed to go and make sure his Corporal was okay.

* * *

 

As soon as he got back to the castle, he noticed that he was dirty and sweaty. He realized that Levi probably wouldn’t appreciate that, so he took a quick shower and put on fresh clothes.

As he was nearing the Corporal’s room, he could definitely hear muffled crying. It hurt Eren to hear Levi in such a state. He felt so frustrated that he didn’t know how to help him, but he’d be damned if he didn’t try. He stood in front of the door for a moment before softly knocking on it. The crying stopped almost instantly.

“Corporal?” Eren called out, his voice barely above a whisper “May I come in, sir?” He heard shuffling from beyond the door, and it wasn’t long before it opened, revealing his Corporal. His face was wet with tears. Eren did not hesitate to embrace him. Eren was surprised, and a bit upset, when Levi started to try and push him off.

Eren reluctantly let go of him and noticed that something was off. Levi was taller than him. He was a lot taller than him. All of his limbs seemed stretched and out of proportion. His legs were about three times the length of his torso and his arms came all the way down to his knees. His face was full of horror.

“I- I’m becoming one of _them_.” Levi tried to rasp out. Eren’s face was a mixture of shock and fear. Eren couldn’t speak, he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Eren, please listen to me.” His voice was full of desperation. “If I- If I lose my mind, I want _you_ to kill me.” This violently snapped Eren out of his daze.

“ _No!_ ” Eren nearly screeched. Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes, emphasizing his words. “It’s not going to get to that point!” He gripped Levi’s shoulders and shook him back and forth, trying to knock some sense into the now taller man. “Whatever is happening to you _will_ pass! You’ll be fine.” Hot tears were now streaming freely down his face.

“Don’t fucking _lie_ to me, Eren!” The Corporal cried. “ _Dammit!_ Optimistic ignorance isn’t going to fucking help!” He collapsed to the ground, his body was shaking. He was sobbing loudly now.

Eren looked down at the Corporal’s trembling form. He got down on his knees and wrapped his arms around him. Levi’s cries died down significantly and he buried his head in Eren’s shoulder. Levi realized that keeping all of his emotions inside wasn’t going to help either. He was going to let it all out and give in to all of his urges.

_**Keep crying like a little bitch.** _

_Yup._

_**Start whimpering like a fucking pussy.** _

_Definitely._

_**Kill the human.** _

_Sounds about right._

_Wait._

Levi was pulled out of his self-induced stupor when he heard Eren’s pained cry. He had bit Eren’s neck. His teeth were clamped around Eren’s neck. _He had fucking bit Eren’s neck in a very non-sensual way._

“Oh shit, shit, shit, _shit, shit!_ ” He chanted and got to his feet. “Eren, I-” He looked into Eren’s wide eyes.

“Levi…” Eren whispered cautiously, still on the hallway’s floor. Levi took a step back, shaking his head.

“I’m so sorry.” He whimpered. He turned around and tried to run down the hallway, but had great difficulty due to the fact that he was unused to this new taller form.

“ _Corporal!_ ” Eren called after him futilely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want you guys to know that I will be posting a sequel to this on Halloween.  
> The next chapter should be up on Saturday!  
> -Soap


	4. Chapter 4

“ _Corporal!_ ” Eren practically screamed. He rose to his feet and chased after the now-taller man. He ran down the hallway, and skidded to a halt when he came to a fork in the hallway.

_Crap. Which way did he go?_

Eren looked at the two paths and decided on taking the one on the left. He sprinted down it and ended up in the kitchen. Levi wasn’t there. Eren continued to look everywhere in the castle for the Corporal, but his efforts were fruitless. The Corporal was nowhere to be found.

Even though he did not want to stop looking, he was exhausted and felt like he might have collapsed at any moment. He remembered idly that he hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before. He sat down on the pathetic excuse of a bed that he had in his cell, and tried to rationalize Levi’s actions.

_I suppose there is no point in denying it. Levi really is becoming one of them. Those damn titans, I’m even more determined to slay them! I’ll kill them all and save my Levi from becoming one of them. If he isn’t giving in to it then I won’t give up on him!_

* * *

A few hours later the rest of the squad returned. They were tired, dirty, and hungry. Petra asked if Eren was feeling better. At first this confused Eren, but then he remembered that she was the one who told Hanji that he wasn’t doing well. Eren told her he felt fine. She didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t push the topic any further.

After the squad cleaned themselves up to some degree, they helped Hanji to make the dinner. They were making mashed potatoes and Hanji put a little bit of animal fat in for “flavor”.

_If Levi saw that he would be disgusted._

_Oh God._

_Levi._

_Should I tell Squad Leader Hanji about him? How would they take the news? Would they even take me seriously?_

Millions of questions ran through Eren’s head. None of them proved to be very helpful.

_If they did they would probably run painful experiments on him. I can’t let that happen._

_I won’t tell Hanji._

After dinner was done cooking, the squad sat down to eat. Despite drowning in concern for the Corporal, Eren forced himself to eat.

_What good would I be to Levi if I starve to death?_

_I have to find him. I need to be there for him._

After dinner, Eren looked for Levi all over the castle, but was unsuccessful. Hours later Eren finally accepted defeat. He walked down to the dungeon and laid down on the uncomfortable bed. Even though he was exhausted, worry plagued his mind and sleep avoided him. 

* * *

 

Eren woke up from his sleepless daze when he heard what sounded like a herd of horses. It turns out that it was just Hanji running down the stone dungeon stairs.

“Good morning!” Hanji bellowed as they threw open the door to his cell. Somehow, Eren never really gotten used to Hanji’s dynamic personality, and he visibly flinched in reaction to Hanji’s entrance. “It’s time for _science_.” Eren’s eyes widened by a fraction.

_Oh no._

This was going to be a long day, and the sun hadn’t even risen yet. It’s not that Eren didn’t like the tests, they were simply exhausting.

This certainly wasn’t the first time Hanji wanted to do experiments, far from it, but this was one of the first times that they took a carriage to the testing site. Hanji heavily implied that they would have preferred to ride Eren’s titan form if they could. This made Moblit, who was driving the carriage, shift nervously in his seat. Hanji told Moblit to stop the carriage when they arrived in a large grassy field.

“After our many tests, I feel like I can say that you have a lot of control over your titan. I want to run a few more tests for confirmation.” Hanji explained to Eren.

“What kind of tests?” Eren inquired.

“Just simple ones to see if you can understand commands and follow through with them!” They clarified. “Don’t worry though, you’ll be fine!”

After he transformed, Hanji instructed him to stomp his foot. Eren complied and shook the earth with his massive foot. Then, Hanji told him to uproot a tree. He pulled the tree out of the ground and dropped it alarmingly close to the other two. Next, Hanji commanded Eren to pick Moblit up and carry him carefully. Eren complied, much to Moblit’s chargin. After a few more successful tests, Hanji deems that the likeliness of Eren losing control of his titan form was exceedingly low.

Not only had Eren improved in his control over his titan, but he also did not feel completely drained after getting out of the titan. He was still a bit weary, but definitely not to the same extent as before.

The three of them got back into the carriage, but not before Hanji asked if they could ride Eren’s titan form back to the castle. This proposal was promptly ignored.

* * *

By the time they got back, the sun was high in the sky, although it was covered by dark grey clouds. The air felt cold and stale when moments ago it was warm and lively. Not paying any mind to this, Hanji ran ahead and threw open the large front doors, only to be greeted by silence, darkness, and a heavy metallic scent. They quickly got quiet and paused for a moment before cautiously walking over the threshold. Moblit and Eren sensed Hanji’s change in tenor, and followed gingerly behind them.

“I’m going to try and find a lantern.” Hanji stated in a serious tone. Eren honestly did not know which was scarier, being in the dark about the situation they were in, figuratively and literally, or Hanji’s sudden change in demeanor. If Eren had to choose, he would probably say the latter. Eren kept walking, keeping close to the wall. The farther he progressed, the stronger the putrid smell was.

_If I didn’t know any better, I would say that it smells like bl-_

Eren’s thoughts were cutoff when he stepped in a puddle of something, most likely the source of the foul smell.

“I found a lantern.” The sudden appearance of Hanji’s voice startled Eren. “Does anyone have a match?”

“I- I have one.” A shaky voice said, undoubtedly Moblit. It sounded like he was absolutely terrified. Moblit had worked by Hanji’s side for years. After all of Hanji’s antics, there wasn’t much that legitimately scared him. Sure, he was always on the edge of a nervous breakdown, but dealing with Hanji gave you a certain sense of comfort in everything else. If he was afraid, then something was seriously wrong.

Hanji took the match and lit the lantern, light flowed from it and illuminated the hallway. Hanji gasped loudly. The light revealed that the puddle Eren had stepped in was a deep crimson color.

Blood.

The trail of blood continued around the corner. The three of them stood perfectly still, before Eren took a shaky step forward. Hanji followed in suit, but their strides were quicker and more confident. Hanji quickly looked around the corner.

“Oh my god.” Hanji breathed out. Eren was frozen in place when he saw the scene for himself. There in the middle of the hallway lay a bloody, mutilated corpse. Eren took a deep breath and went over to the carcass.

_They’re so disfigured, I can’t even tell who they are._

It was then that Eren noticed a scrap of paper next to them. He recognized his own handwriting, but one of the words was covered by blood. The note now said:

_“Be afraid.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soap here, I just want to say that I'm sorry for posting a day late. The next chapter will be up on Friday.


	5. Chapter 5

Eren was lost in his worries when he heard Moblit's shrill scream. Eren turned around to see that Moblit had worked up the courage to look around the corner.

"Oh my _god."_ He cried looking at the remains of the former Survey Corps member. Hanji walked forward, holding the lantern high above their head, and inspected the corpse.

"Do you think it was some kind of animal?" Moblit questioned creeping closer to Hanji in hopes of comfort.

"No." Hanji said crouching down to view the body closer. "The teeth markings are the same as a human's." Eren gasped slightly.

_Levi._

_He couldn't have done this._

_Could he?_

"We need to see if the others are alive." They said, standing up. "We need to stay together."

As the trio continued deeper into the castle, they moved in near silence. Not a word was said between them. The second corpse was in the kitchen, half of its face was still intact. It was Erd. Hanji examined this corpse as well. As they were walking out of the kitchen, Moblit slipped in a vile smelling puddle. After inspecting it, Hanji deemed that it was vomit. They found more and more piles of bile as they kept searching the building.

Eren noticed that with every carcass they found, Hanji was getting more and more visibly anxious. After they had found the fourth body, which Eren believed to be Gunther, Hanji's breathing was ragged and they were visibly quivering. While Eren did mourn the loss of his squad members, he knew he needed to find Levi.

"We have to find the Corporal." He stated. Hanji stared at him for a moment before nodding in agreement. Eren turned to Moblit to see his response, only to see that he was not there. Eren looked around the dim room, but did not see him anywhere.

"We need to find Levi, but first Moblit." Hanji commanded. Eren was about to interject, but was cut off by his superior's explanation. "It's likely that Levi is already dead, but there is still a chance that Moblit could be alive. We need to make sure he is safe." Hanji's serious tone could probably be the most terrifying thing in most scenarios, but in this situation, Eren was comforted by it.

It wasn't long before they were reunited with Moblit. Even though the lantern was starting to dim, it was obvious that he looked even more disturbed than before, if that was possible. He was shaking like a leaf in the wind, his face was white as snow. Hanji tried their hardest to comfort him, but it did not do much. He opened his mouth to speak, but only whimpers could escape. Hanji helped down to the floor to sit. Once he had regained his equanimity, he spoke.

"I think I heard growling from the dungeon."

None of the three really wanted to go down and investigate, but they knew that if Moblit was telling the truth, then that was their only lead as to what happened to the members of squad Levi. Since the trio did not have their weapons with them, they had to grab some spare ones from the armory. For some unknown reason, there were only five swords in the chest that usually held around thirty. They all agreed that it would be best for each of them to have at least two swords, so they ended up taking a spare blade off of Gunther's corpse.

As they descended into the darkness of the dungeon, a deep guttural growling could be heard echoing around the stone walls. The light from the lantern was starting to dim significantly, casting long, antagonistic shadows.

_We need a new lantern, this one's about to go out._

_I can probably take one of the ones that are on the wall._

"Can I borrow a match?" Eren whispered to Moblit, remembering that he had some earlier. The other man nodded, and dug around his pocket. A moment later, he retrieved the requested item and handed it to Eren. Once he had gotten to the bottom of the steps, he walked over to one of the lanterns that was hanging on a wall next to one of the cells. The growling was impossibly loud and Eren could barely hear himself think. Using the match to light the lantern, he turned to face his superiors, but was paralyzed when he saw what was in the cell that was closest to him.

His limbs were impossibly long and stretched. Torn clothing hung loosely around his frame. The ebony hair was nearly unrecognizable due to it being matted and caked with blood. His slender eyebrows were raised, and his stormy grey eyes were wide. Everything about his face appeared to be frozen in fear, except for his mouth. It was twisted in a cruel, animalistic grin. The lips were smeared with blood, and flesh was stuck in between the teeth. Whatever this monster was, it wasn't the Corporal anymore.

Eren stumbled backwards, he felt like he was going to pass out. Eren could barely hear Hanji's screaming and Moblit emptying his stomach. The monster that was formerly Levi, was baring its teeth and snarling.

"Oh my _god."_ Moblit breathed. "Is that the Corporal?"

"I think it is." Hanji murmured disbelievingly.

"Was he a titan all along?" Moblit wondered aloud.

"Cruelly ironic. Humanity's strongest, a man sworn to kill every titan, has become a titan himself." Hanji said wistfully. "This is all my fault."

Up until this point, Eren was silent. The only sources of sound were Hanji, Moblit, and Levi's growling. Eren was frothing with anger.

 _"This is all my fault."_ Hanji's words rang in his head.

_Hanji caused this?!_

"What do you mean?" Moblit asked.

"I have been investigating titans a lot more recently. I don't know what I did, but it was probably me." Tears started to run down their face. "I'm so _sorry_ Levi." They choked out.

"Well, what do we do now?" Moblit wondered verbally.

Eren remembered Levi's request from earlier.

" _I- I'm becoming one of them." Levi tried to rasp out. Eren's face was a mixture of shock and fear. Eren couldn't speak, he felt like he couldn't breathe._

_"Eren, please listen to me." His voice was full of desperation. "If I- If I lose my mind, I want you to kill me."_

Eren looked at the creature that used to be his Corporal. Eren lamented. 

"We have to kill him."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soap here,   
> The last chapter will be up next Friday.  
> P.S. There is going to be a sequel coming out on Halloween.


	6. Epilogue

The month following Levi’s death was difficult for many reasons.

After examining more titans, Hanji noticed that there was a sack-like organ inside of the nape. The organ contained a biochemical compound that Hanji and Moblit believed was responsible for what they called “Titan Syndrome”.

Titan Syndrome was divided into three major stages:

The loss of digestion and increased hunger.

The loss and deformation of physical parts.

The loss of sanity and control, as well as cannibalistic acts.

So when someone sliced a titan’s nape, they unknowingly exposed themselves to this chemical. Hanji believed that since Levi was “Humanity’s Strongest”, he was probably exposed to the chemical more than other people were.

Hanji and Moblit fabricated alibis and a consistent story to cover up the Corporal’s demise. The official story was that he became ill with a mysterious disease and passed in his sleep. Then the members of his squad gave him an honorable Survey Corps’ funeral pyre. Soon after, the rest of his squad fell prey to the illness as well. Lying about their deaths made Eren feel incredibly guilty, but Hanji and Moblit told him this was necessary in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

The three of them were brought before a court. Similar to Eren’s last experience in a court room, he was accused of being a traitor and a terrorist. A couple of people claimed that he murdered Levi and the rest of his squad in cold blood. For the most part, they were ignored, but their words stabbed Eren in the chest.

Three weeks later, the Survey Corps introduced an “alternating schedule rule”. It stated that a soldier could not go on more than two expeditions in a row. Most members of the Survey Corps were thankful for this, it gave them more time with their family and friends. Others thought it was a foolish way of trying to make the limited number of soldiers last longer. In actuality, Moblit thought this was the best way to prevent a soldier from being exposed too much to the dangerous biochemical.  

Eren’s world started to crumble around him. For a few weeks after the whole ordeal had ended, Eren wasn’t sure if he wanted to go on living. He soon realized that he needed to stay alive in order to avenge his Corporal. Eren devoted himself entirely to the Survey Corps. He became distant around people, talking only when necessary. On the field he became a butcher of titans. He and his titan form worked flawlessly as one single unit. His constant thoughts were reminiscent of the man he once loved.

_I can’t give up._

_I won’t lose my way._

_I will avenge him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that wasn't exactly a happy ending, but I will assure you that the sequel will have one.


End file.
